Chapter 89: The Weird Realm
"Since Miss Sabrina was the first to open a meridian... Let’s start with her." Matilda looked toward Sabrina. "How many did you open, Miss Sabrina?"
Sabrina calmly stood up. "I opened up to the kidney meridian, ma’am."
"So you’ve opened nine."
"Yes, ma’am. I’m still three short."
Matilda nodded, her eyes showing both approval and a hint of surprise.
"Good. I knew your mana compatibility was better than the others, but I didn’t expect it to be this exceptional. As far as I know, you’re the first person to open nine meridians within a single month."
"I’ll report this to the academy committee. They’ll verify the academy records and compare them with the other major academies."
"If it truly is a record...you’ll most likely receive a few merit points as reward." As always, Sabrina simply nodded.
"Thank you, ma’am."
Matilda smiled. "Now that we’ve heard from our model student..." She slowly turned toward the back of the classroom. "Let’s move on to our class troublemaker."
The entire classroom immediately followed her gaze, and every pair of eyes landed on Zac with confusion spreading across the room.
Troublemaker?
It’s only been a month...
What could he have possibly done already?
"Mr. Delancore."
Zac blinked. "...Me?"
"Of course, who else?"
Zac slowly stood up. "Ma’am... I honestly don’t know what I’ve done to earn such an honorable title. As far as my conscience is concerned, I’ve never caused any trouble."
[Your conscience just filed a defamation lawsuit.]
Matilda looked at him with an amused smile. "Really? Would you like me to list them one by one?"
Seeing Zac wisely remain silent, she began counting on her fingers.
"First. You lost your entry permit and caused a scene at the harbor."
"Ma’am. I’ll admit the part about losing the permit, but the harbor incident wasn’t my fau..."
"I didn’t give you permission to defend yourself. Just listen." She continued. "Second, there was your incident with Miss Sabrina, which led to an entire floor of the temporary residence getting destroyed."
"You’re lucky nobody happened to be on that floor." Sabrina’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
"Third, on your very first day... You beat another student so badly that he left the academy out of fear. Fourth, a few days ago, you got into a conflict with second-year students in the academy market."
She stared at him. "Seriously? You’ve only been here a month, and you’re already making enemies among the second years?"
She sighed dramatically. "And let’s not even talk about what you did behind my back."
Zac frowned. "What did I do behind her back?"
[She’s talking about Lima.]
Matilda folded her arms. "So tell me, Mr. Delancore. How did you manage to accomplish all of this...in a single month?"
"I don’t even want to imagine what you’ll be doing over the next four years." She pointed at herself. "And who do you think has to deal with the paperwork every single time?"
"...That’s right. Me!"
Her smile remained, but every word landed like another accusation.
Zac cleared his throat.
"Well...If you put it like that...I suppose I do sound like a troublemaker. But honestly, none of those incidents were entirely my fault. I had perfectly reasonable explanations."
"Your explanations can go to hell." Matilda replied without missing a beat. "They don’t change the fact that trouble follows you wherever you go."
"Whether you’re the cause... or simply the catalyst... you’re still part of it."
"Now enough about that. Tell me, how many meridians did you open?"
Zac took a slow breath. "I opened up to the Liver Meridian."
"Eight?"
"Yes, ma’am."
Matilda blinked once. "Well...That’s a little unexpected."
The classroom fell silent. Only two weeks ago, Zac had opened just one meridian like almost everyone else.
Now... He had opened seven more. Even the students who disliked him couldn’t hide their surprise.
Matilda studied him for a moment before nodding.
"Good. So you’re not only a troublemaker. Keep it up, but not the trouble part."
"You’re getting dangerously close to catching Miss Sabrina." Sabrina immediately turned around and shot Zac a cold glare before facing forward again.
Matilda shifted her attention to the rest of the class.
"Now...one by one, tell me how many meridians you’ve opened."
One after another, the students reported their progress.
Daniel had opened five, Adrian had also opened five, Kelly surprised everyone by opening six meridians, and Marty had opened four.
The biggest surprise, however, came from Shobin. "I’ve opened seven." The classroom instantly turned toward him. Feeling everyone’s stares, Shobin shrank slightly in his seat.
Matilda, however, simply nodded. As if she had expected that answer all along. Most of the remaining students had opened three or four meridians.
After recording everyone’s progress, Matilda closed her tablet.
"Good. Now...Let’s talk about the Summer and Winter Cell."
The atmosphere in the classroom instantly changed.
"After class, all of you may go have lunch and then return here immediately. I’ll personally take you to the entrance of the Summer and Winter Cell."
A few students swallowed nervously. "The reason I’m giving you time beforehand is that that place is filled with beasts."
"So use this time wisely to prepare yourselves."
Marty slowly raised his hand. "Ma’am...You said the Summer and Winter Cell contains a great opportunity; can you tell us what it is?"
Matilda looked at him. "Do you want me to spoon-feed you everything, Mr. Williams?"
Marty immediately lowered his hand. "No, ma’am."
"Good."
This time, Shobin raised his hand. "I read on the academy website that the summer and winter cell is used to punish students. So... will there be other students there besides us?"
"Yes," Matilda replied. "There will, but you don’t need to worry about them. The reason it’s called the Summer and Winter Cell is because that realm contains two major regions."
"One appears to be covered in ice but is, in reality, scorching hot. The other looks like a sea of flames but is freezing cold."
"In both regions, the academy has built prison cells to hold punished students and prisoners, but you won’t be going anywhere near those prisons."
"The area you’ll be entering is far away from them. However, if you somehow come across the prison area, stay away from it. The guards there won’t show you any mercy just because you’re first-year students."
With that, Matilda picked up her things and left the classroom.
The moment she disappeared from sight, Marty grabbed Zac by the arm and dragged him toward Sabrina and Kelly.
Seeing them gather, Daniel and Shobin walked over as well.
Adrian, however, remained seated. "If I go over by myself, they’ll think I’m eager to join them. No, they should beg for my presence. Then I’ll graciously accept, as the savior always does."
Meanwhile, Marty clapped his hands. "Since we’re all getting punished in a few hours, why don’t we have lunch together first?"
"Sounds good to me," Daniel replied.
Shobin nodded. "I’m in."
"Me too!" Kelly answered immediately.
Only Zac and Sabrina remained silent. The two looked at each other like mortal enemies.
Marty looked at Zac. "Please?"
Kelly turned toward Sabrina. "You too."
At the exact same moment, Zac and Sabrina clicked their tongues. "...Fine." They answered in perfect sync and immediately looked away from each other. The rest couldn’t help smiling.
Together, the six of them headed outside the classroom door.
Behind them... Adrian was still sitting at his desk, watching them leave; he finally couldn’t hold back anymore. "What about me?!"
Marty turned around. "Oh...I didn’t see you. Do you want to come?"
Adrian crossed his arms dramatically. "If you sincerely beg for my presence...I may consider it."
Marty nodded thoughtfully. "I see. In that case...We’ll pass."
The group continued walking. Adrian’s eyes widened. "Hey! Wait for me!"
Matilda was already waiting in the classroom. When the students returned, she looked at them and said, "Took you all long enough. Come, follow me."
Without waiting for a reply, she turned and walked out of the classroom, and the students quickly followed behind her.
As they walked through the academy, Kelly asked, "Ma’am, where exactly is the Summer and Winter Realm?"
"It’s similar to a pocket dimension."
Daniel frowned. "But... can a pocket dimension exist inside another pocket dimension?"
"No. A pocket dimension is already an unstable space. It can only exist inside a more stable environment capable of sustaining it."
"And since the academy itself is inside a pocket dimension... Technically, the answer is no. However, we do have the entrance and exit to the Summer and Winter Realm inside the academy."
"As for where the realm itself actually exists...No one knows. And how the academy obtained access to it...I’m not entirely sure either."
After walking for nearly fifteen minutes, they arrived at a massive building. Above its entrance was an emblem formed from both fire and ice.
The two elements circled one another. One burned crimson and the other glowed with a pale blue light.
Matilda stopped before the entrance. "Everyone, stand in a line before entering and tap your student ID against the sensor beside the door."
Once everyone had entered, including Matilda, they found themselves inside a vast hall. Covering almost the entire floor was an enormous formation array.
Countless strange symbols had been carved into it, each glowing with a faint light.
Matilda gestured toward it.
"This is the entrance to the Summer and Winter Realm; the exit is located in the next hall. Once you’re teleported, each of you will appear at a random location inside the realm. So if you’re thinking about sticking together..."
"Forget it."
"The chances of meeting each other are next to none. To tell you the truth, the Summer and Winter Realms are even larger than the academy realm."
Her expression suddenly became serious. "And one last thing. Whatever you do...Do not go anywhere near the Forbidden Zone."
A chill spread through the hall. Every student could hear the seriousness in her voice.
One student hesitantly raised his hand. "Ma’am...How will we know which area is the forbidden zone?"
Matilda looked directly at him. "Oh...Trust me. You’ll know." She paused. "The problem is, you’ll already be dead before your brain has time to process it."
The students instinctively swallowed.
[Translation... If you see it... Run.]
"Now, step onto the teleportation array." One by one, the students stepped onto the glowing formation. The array beneath them shone brilliantly.
The next instant... Every one of them disappeared.
***
When Zac opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in the middle of a snow-covered wasteland. A freezing wind brushed past his face, and snow drifted down from the sky.
But the first thing that caught his attention wasn’t the cold; it was the color. The entire landscape was crimson.
Even the snow was a deep blood-red, covering the world like a frozen sea of scarlet.
Zac crouched and reached toward it; the instant his fingers touched the snow... An overwhelming chill pierced straight through his skin. "What the hell is this...?"
Before he could think any further...
ROAR!
Zac spun around and saw a gigantic bear was charging straight toward him.
Its body looked like a bizarre fusion of a polar bear and molten lava. Black fur covered its body, while glowing crimson cracks spread beneath its skin like flowing magma.
Its eyes burned like two blazing furnaces. The beast stopped several meters away before rising onto its hind legs.
Zac stared at it. "So... Are you a polar bear or a magma bear?"
[Call it whatever you want. It won’t care while it’s eating you.]
The bear threw back its head and roared. The next second... A massive stream of crimson flames burst toward Zac.
"Damn!" He immediately leaped aside. "And here I thought only dragons could breathe fire."
He glanced back at where he had been standing. The crimson flames had struck the ground.
But instead of burning it... Everything they touched froze solid.
Zac stared at the frozen ground for a second, then slowly looked back at the bear. "...Definitely a weird place."